


I Am Your Way Home, You Are My New Path

by AdventureAddict



Series: Songs of Another World [3]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Adulthood, Babies, Baby Names, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Post-Promised Day, Pregnancy, obligatory joke about Ed's style
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-12 05:07:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29005044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AdventureAddict/pseuds/AdventureAddict
Summary: Winry always knew Ed's style was atrocious. She just didn't ever think it would apply to the baby names he suggested. Now they can't seem to find any sort of middle ground between normal baby names and picking names from the periodic table. Why is he so stubborn?(This fits in with the backstory for this series, but it also totally stands alone!)
Relationships: Edward Elric/Winry Rockbell
Series: Songs of Another World [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2089266
Comments: 18
Kudos: 51





	I Am Your Way Home, You Are My New Path

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mildlynerdy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mildlynerdy/gifts), [RainFlame](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RainFlame/gifts).



> Title was taken from a poem I found from a baby naming ceremony here: https://www.thecelebrantdirectory.com/10-naming-ceremony-readings/

"So I was thinking," Winry said with a smile as she laced her arm through Ed's. The night was quiet enough that they could hear the crunch of their feet against the slightly frozen dirt. The moon was reflecting off the river as they walked, keeping close to one another as their breath hung in the air as white puffs. 

"Never a good idea," Ed said with a laugh, squeezing her arm. Winry scoffed and rolled her eyes, but she was smiling with him. 

"Oh shut up," she said, nudging his shoulder. "I was just thinking, now that we know I'm pregnant, maybe we should start thinking about names." 

Ed's eyes lit up with a spark, and he glanced down at her belly. It didn't really show underneath her winter coat, not when she was only a couple of months along, but she could still remember how he had run his hands over her belly in awe when she'd broken the news to him, amazed at how it had already gotten firm and tight, even though she was hardly showing. Ed looked back up at Winry's eyes, his face cracked into a grin that seemed bigger than his face. 

"Did you have anything in mind?"

"Well. I was thinking, maybe... If it's a girl... We could name her Trisha." Winry paused and licked her lips. The smile slowly slid from Ed's face, slowly morphing as his eyebrows bunched together. Winry paused, not having expected that kind of reaction. "You know, in honor of your—"

"Yeah, I know," Ed said, cutting her off. "And... maybe." 

"Maybe?" Winry said, raising an eyebrow at him. She certainly hadn't expected this kind of reaction. She'd thought the name was a slam dunk, that Ed would agree in half a second with an excited grin, and then they would just be stuck trying to figure out the boy's name. "But Ed—" 

The crunching sound of his feet against the frozen dirt suddenly stopped as he paused and looked out at the river. "Hey, Win, let's skip some rocks." 

"Ed," Winry said, but he was already walking over to the riverbed and picking at the rocks on the ground. "Ed, I know you're avoiding something. You can't just—" 

"Trisha's just... Not a very _cool_ name, is it?" he said, standing up and hurling a rock at the surface of the lake. It only managed one bounce before sinking, and Ed scoffed at it before turning to find another rock.

"Ed, that is your _mother's_ name, you can't just say it's not cool!" 

"Mom would have admitted her name wasn't cool," Ed said with a shrug, picking a couple rocks from the ground. He lobbed one of them at the river, and it slid beneath the surface of the water with a plop, not even managing one skip. Ed sighed and rolled his eyes. "Our kid should have a really _cool_ name, like... like... _Firestorm_." 

Winry crossed her arms over her chest and stared at Ed. "You've got to be joking." 

"I think it sounds cool," Ed muttered, throwing another rock at the river. Again it sank without even skipping once. Winry sighed and plucked one of the rocks from Ed's fingers, turning and throwing it at the river. It managed to skip five times before finally sinking, and Ed scowled. 

"Show off," he muttered. "Okay, fine, then just Storm." 

"Well... Maybe," Winry said with a sigh. 

"Or!" Ed suddenly said, his eyes lighting with the spark of an idea that Winry knew couldn't be good. "Or, we could name them Lightning Storm, two names. I mean, how cool would it be to have a name like _Lightning_? Lightning Storm Elric, now there's a name!" 

"What is wrong with you?" Winry said with a slightly crazed laugh. Only Ed could manage to amuse her in the most annoying way possible. "I'm not naming our child Lightning Storm! As if your style isn't already bad enough, you have to go and inflict it on our child too?" 

"Hey, the kid's going to have to learn to put up with my style sooner or later," Ed said with a shrug. He threw another rock at the river, managing at least two skips for once. "It's not like I'm just going to magically become a different person before they're born. They're going to have to put up with my style the rest of their life anyway." 

"Maybe," Winry said with a sigh. They had only been married a year and she was already beginning to give up on the style battle. It wasn't really something she wanted to be arguing about with Ed until they were old and grey. "But that doesn't mean that their name has to be the first thing that makes them hate your style." 

Ed harrumphed her at that, but the topic seemed to have mostly been dropped, and Winry decided to let it stay dropped for the time being. It was supposed to be a nice midnight stroll in the moonlight, and she didn't particularly want it to end in an argument just because they couldn't agree that naming a child "Lightning Storm" was a terrible idea. 

The next time it got brought up was about a week later when Ed came down to breakfast with a wild glint in his eyes. 

"I've got the perfect baby name!" he announced, and Winry did her best not to let out a loud sigh. 

"Please, please, let it be at least semi-decent," she muttered under her breath as Ed helped himself to a plate of scrambled eggs and sat down at the table. Both her and Granny were looking at him expectantly, waiting to see the next Edward style catastrophe. 

"Argon," Ed said, spreading both his hands out as he said it, as if he was imparting mind-blowing news. Granny and Winry both stared at him. "Just think of it. _Argon Elric._ That sounds _so_ cool." 

Winry put her fork down on her plate with a loud clink, sighing and staring at Ed. "I've never heard of _anyone_ named that." 

"Exactly!" Ed grinned and took a bite of his eggs, looking entirely too pleased with himself. "No one else will have a name like that! Our kid will be unique!" 

"Our kid will be bullied!" Winry snapped. "Just what kind of a name is Argon, anyway?" 

"It's a noble gas!" Ed said, frowning back at her. "Are you saying our kid isn't noble? And besides, it goes florescent when you charge it with electricity, that's cool as hell!" 

"Absolutely not," Winry said with a shake of her head. Ed rolled his eyes and reached into his back pocket. 

"Fine, I've got more ideas." He then pulled out a folded piece of paper, and as he unfolded it, Winry could barely catch a hint of boxes drawn on the paper. "How about... Iridium?" 

"Edward Elric, are you using the _periodic table_ to come up with names for our child?" Winry snapped before snatching the paper out of his hands. Sure enough, it was a periodic table of elements, with several elements having been circled in red pen. _Cadmium. Bismuth. Fluorine. Gallium._

"What's wrong with that?" Ed snapped back, grabbing the paper back from her. "If the names are good enough for the elements, why aren't they good enough for our kid?" 

"What is _wrong_ with you?" 

The argument continued on and off through the months, even as Winry's belly swelled and they began decorating the nursery. Among the rejections were names such as Stormageddon, Legendary, Xenon, X... Just the letter X. Never mind when Winry tried to explain to Ed that literally having "X" as a name would end up in a lot of paperwork forms getting rejected for their child later in life, because it would just look like someone had tried to void the name box. 

The "maybe" pile so far consisted of Storm, Raven, Ace, and Infinity. Winry was reluctant to even put those names in the "maybe" pile, but they were the only names Ed had come up with so far that didn't sound like something a ten-year-old came up with for the comic book character he'd created. Well, okay, maybe that was a little generous. They were the only names Ed had come up with so far that Winry knew actual people in the rest of the world used as names. 

Winry had tried giving Ed a few other suggestions, but her suggestions had been rejected just as quickly as she rejected his. She was beginning to wonder if they would even end up coming up with a name in time, or if their child would just end up named "TBA."

The final straw in the argument came on a Saturday afternoon when Winry sat Ed down and said they were going to pick out a name that afternoon, no excuses. They only had about a month left until the baby came, and she was _not_ going to go into labor without having a name picked out for the baby. 

"I would _really_ like to honor someone important to us," Winry said, plopping a baby name book on Ed's lap. "We've lost so many people we care about it, and I think this is a really nice chance to honor them." 

"Yeah, but..." Ed sighed, flipping at the pages of the book with a frown. "But so many people we've known have had really... _boring_ names."

"You're so rude," Winry said with a huff, flipping through the book herself. "My father's name is interesting. Or we could always use different versions of people's names. Like we could name a daughter Patricia instead of just Trisha."

Ed made a face as she pointed to the name Patricia in the book, and he pushed her finger away so he could point at another name. "What about Paine? That's kinda cool." Winry made a face at him, and Ed jabbed a finger at the book. "What? It's a real name, the book says so!" 

"What, are we naming our child in honor of the process it took to name them?" Winry said with a roll of her eyes. Granny was sitting in a rocking chair in the corner, fiddling with a small piece of automail as her eyes twinkled. She didn't have to say anything for them to know how amused she was to watch this entire drama unfold. Winry sighed and flipped the book to a different page. "What about if your mom had a middle name? We could use that instead." 

Ed's shoulders tensed, and he shook his head. "No, Winry." 

"Well, what about Maes? Or maybe we could use Nina if it's a girl?" 

Ed snapped the book shut and took in a shaky breath before looking over at Winry, opening and closing his mouth a couple of times. "What about... What about... Shadowbringer, destroyer of nations?"

"You can _not_ make a child's middle name 'Destroyer of Nations,' Edward!" Winry snapped, ripping the book out of his hands and jumping to her feet. Ed jumped up from the sofa with her. 

"You absolutely _can_! Just because other people haven't done it doesn't mean it can't be done!"

"Okay, fine!" Winry threw the book on the sofa. "Let me clarify, then! I _will not_ name my child 'Destroyer of Nations!'" 

"Well, why did you even ask for my opinion!" Ed snapped, putting his hands on his hips. "You've rejected every single one of my names! You clearly don't care about anything I want to name the kid, so you might as well just pick it out all by yourself!" 

"Edward—" Winry started, but he was already storming off, waving his hands at her in dismissal. When he slammed the door to the bedroom, it felt like it shook the entire house. Winry groaned and turned to Granny, who didn't look quite as amused as she had a few minutes ago. 

"Maybe you should just name the baby, Granny!" Winry said with an exasperated sigh, throwing her hands in the air. "You could probably pick a name faster than we could!"

The two of them avoided one another for most of the day after that explosion, Ed eventually coming quietly out of the room and announcing he was going for a walk. He still gave Winry a kiss on the cheek and murmured, "love you," even though she could still feel the tension rolling off him in waves. No matter how tense or angry Ed got, he always made a point of making sure he still gave her a decent goodbye whenever he left the house. Winry remembered that at one point he'd said it was because he always had a fear that if something happened while he was away, she could potentially die without knowing he loved her. Even as an adult, he was still haunted by that afternoon he had come home and found his mom collapsed on the floor, still afraid that he would somehow be the same kind of husband to her that his father had been to his mother. Just thinking about that, knowing that he was taking the effort and care to love her even when he was angry made Winry want to run to him and tell him to forget about the whole argument. 

But then again, it wasn't enough to make her willing to name her child Shadowbringer, either. So she let him take his walk, hoping he would come back with a little more sense. 

When Ed finally did come home, it was dark. Winry was sitting out on the porch, leaning back against the stairs and letting her belly pop out into the night air. He stood in front of her in silence for a minute before he finally took in a deep breath and sat next to her on the stairs. 

"I'm sorry," he murmured. He was looking down at his hands in his lap and not at her, but Winry still gave him a soft smile. This was one of the most welcome changes she'd seen in him since they had gotten married. He was slowly learning to actually apologize when they snapped at each other, and he was getting faster at learning when to see he had done something wrong. 

"I know. I'm sorry too." 

There was a long pause between the two of them as they looked out over the darkened landscape. Winry knew that once she would have pushed him to talk immediately, but she had learned to stay silent and let Ed come to her himself, like a scared animal. She had learned to trust that he actually would talk to her, and he had learned to trust that she would give him space as long as he didn't shut her out. Finally, he let out a long sigh. 

"It's honestly really nice that you want to name our kid after all these people we've loved," he said softly, lacing his fingers together. "And I love the idea. I really do." 

"Then why—" 

"I don't think I could handle my daughter being named Trisha," he said, the admission coming out in a pained whisper. Winry reached out and touched his knee, and Ed turned to give her a pained look. "I... I'm not strong enough. 'Trisha, come in for dinner. Trisha, don't do that. Trisha, I love—'" 

His voice cracked in the middle of the sentence and he buried his face in his hands. 

"Ed..." 

"Our kid doesn't deserve that," Ed said, pulling his face out of his hands and looking at her again. "Every time I heard their name, I'd remember all these awful things and I would feel all... _guilty_ because I couldn't... A kid doesn't deserve to hear all that pain in their dad's voice every time they get called in for dinner." 

"Okay," Winry whispered, pulling him into a hug and burying her face against his neck. "Okay. We'll find another name." 

Granny never outright said that she had overheard the discussion the two of them had on the porch, but when the three of them were having breakfast the next morning, she suddenly grunted out, "Theodore is a nice name." 

"What?" Ed turned to her with confusion clearly written on his face, and Winry tilted her head like she was thinking. 

"Wasn't that Granddad's name?" 

"Yep," Granny grunted, and then turned to look at Ed. "Did I ever tell you how your dad was responsible for us getting together?" 

Ed snorted, the corners of his mouth turning up into a small smile. "Nah. What'd the old man do?" 

"Your dad had all kinds of fake names he went by," she drawled, leaning back in her chair. "When I first met him, he was calling himself Theodore. Well, little did he know that there was a Theodore Rockbell in town. Anyway, he and I promised to meet up at the bar one week, so I went and asked for Theodore and the bartender directed me to Winry's grandfather instead. Well, your dad ended up running so late, and Theo ended up thinking the whole thing was hilarious, so we ended up talking all night." 

"Did dad ever show up?" Ed said with a laugh, and Granny flashed him a knowing smirk. 

"Nah. He was always terrible with dates." She then turned and looked Winry in the eyes. "So. Did you actually want me to pick the name, or were you just pulling an old lady's leg?"

"Oh! You mean Theodore is a good name for..." Winry blinked and turned to look at Ed. He gave her a soft smile. 

"I like it," Ed said, and Winry beamed at him. 

"I love it, Granny," Winry said. "But what should we name the baby if it's a girl?" 

Granny grunted and looked at Winry's belly. "It won't be a girl." 

Just a few weeks later, Winry and Ed welcomed their son, Theodore, to the world. They had only just found out Winry was pregnant with their second child when they found themselves suddenly having to say goodbye to Granny for good. 

"You know," Ed whispered one night as he watched Teddy sleep in his crib. "I kind of love that Granny named him. It's like a piece of her gets to live on forever with him."

Winry hummed in agreement with a smile, reaching in the crib to gently rub Teddy's blond wisps of hair. "Maybe we should just delegate the naming to someone else this time too. We certainly wouldn't have an easy time trying to reach an agreement ourselves again." 

"I'm too tired to come up with names," Ed said with a snort, leaning back in the chair and closing his eyes. "We should just ask Al. He's got good judgment. And... I'd kind of like our kids having a piece of him forever." 

"Me too," Winry whispered with a smile. 

Al, however, was completely baffled by the idea when they presented it to him. He didn't understand why they would entrust the naming of _their_ baby to someone else, why they would put that kind of pressure on _him_ , of all people, why they couldn't come up with a name themselves, and _please_ just name your own baby, brother. 

It would have sparked the second great name debate, except Winry and Ed were both too exhausted from taking care of a newborn to give much thought to debating the merit of names like "Shadowbringer, destroyer of nations." At one point Winry mentioned that she would probably just spit out the first name that came to her in her post-labor exhaustion, and Ed agreed. But then the phone call from Al came. 

"So I've been trying to dig into any old records I can find from Xerxes," Al said after they had gotten the pleasantries out of the way. "Not much managed to survive, but there are more records in Xing than Amestris. And... I actually managed to find our family line." 

'What?" Ed said, sitting up and looking at the phone with an incredulous grin. "Really? That's so cool!" 

"Yeah, I actually found our grandmother!" Al said, getting infected with Ed's energy. "It's actually really interesting! She was part of this semi-important family, but... Well, she fell in love with our grandpa, and he was a slave. So they cut her off from the family and removed her name." 

"Yikes," Ed said with a hiss. "That's... um..."

"Yeah, our family has some dark history." 

"Yeah, no shit." 

There was a pause between them before Al spoke up again. "I actually had an idea if you wanted to hear." 

"I'll always hear your ideas, Al," Ed said with a snort and shake of his head. 

"Well... I was thinking... Maybe it would be nice if you used her name for the baby. She's been practically forgotten, and having her name stripped away too... It just seems... _right_ to give Xerxian names to some of the last descendants of Xerxes." 

"Yeah," Ed said, a smile slowly crawling across his face. "What was her name, Al?" 

"Azami. It means thistle. It's supposed to mean the person is defiant and strong." 

"I _love_ it," Ed breathed into the phone. He knew without even explaining it to Winry that she would love the name too. 

"I don't have a boy's name for you though," Al said with a sigh. "Our grandfather only had a number because he was a slave." 

"Well," Ed said with a laugh and wave of his hand. "Maybe we'll just have to name them Alphonse if they're a boy. Since you won't give us a different name." Al groaned and protested at that, saying it was too embarrassing to have a kid named after him, but Ed could tell he was honored. Ed almost hoped they would have a boy, if only because he loved the idea of having a little Alphonse running around the house. 

But a few months later, he and Winry welcomed the newest addition to the family, Azami. 

And both their names were perfect.

**Author's Note:**

> This is all because mildlynerdy and RainFlame talked me into it, so... blame/thank them. 
> 
> I originally was going to just keep this as notes in a back folder for The Other Side, maybe just have Winry explain it quickly at some point. But then I ended up sharing this, and notes turned into "I'll just write something short and sweet," which then turned into a full three thousand words. Admittedly, I kind of enjoyed coming up with the worst baby names I could possibly find. 
> 
> Also, yes, Ed is terrible at skipping rocks, and he hates it, because he was really good at skipping rocks once upon a time. But then he lost an arm and regained an arm and... suffice it to say, his arm no longer knows what the heck it's doing.


End file.
